


Bite the  Bullet

by bibobobonnor



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:22:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25626625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bibobobonnor/pseuds/bibobobonnor
Summary: Harry and Ron have a talk after the Yule Ball is announced and things play out with much less drama and angst.
Relationships: Cho Chang/Harry Potter, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Comments: 1
Kudos: 26





	1. Chapter 1

Harry was still reeling mentally from his recent encounter with the very stern head of Gryffindor house. Professor McGonagall had been quite unyielding on the matter, Harry would find a date to this dance, and that was the end of it. 

Stubborn as he was, Harry had still debated going stag, but that line of thought quickly died when he began speculating on the consequences of publicly embarrassing a master in Transfiguration. He could still recall how she'd almost flippantly turned her desk into a pig back in first year, no he'd be attending with a date if he cared for his continued well being.

Arriving at the common room still in an anxious fog, Harry absent-mindedly gave the password and quickly scoped out a free armchair by the fire. Collapsing into the plump cushions and taking in the gentle heat of the roaring fire, he was ready to release his stresses from the day and deal with his dilemma in the morning, that is until he heard a groan coming from the chair directly across from him. Harry could hear it in his groan and see it in his eyes, Ron's mind was running similarly to how Harry's had been for the past half hour.

"Hey Ron, something got you down?" Harry asked, feigning ignorance to the whole situation.

"You bloody well know what's bothering me." Ron glared at him, before returning to a look of desperate misery. "What am I going to do?"

"Well I'm told words help and choosing a girl would be job one" Harry responded cheekily to the rhetorical question. Ron just glared at him some more.

"It's not funny Harry, I've never done this before, I don't even know where to start." he grumbled.

"You think I like it?" Harry questioned. "For me a date is apparently mandatory, unless I want to face the wrath of McGonagall."

Ron gave Harry a sympathetic look "Yeah that sucks, but I'd still rather not be the only bloke without a date, don't need Malfoy making quips about how I'm too poor to even afford a date"

Harry chuckled at that "Yeah, no way am I letting that ferret have a date and not us, we'd never here the end of it" Harry said, his tone betraying how nervous he was about that possible outcome.

But putting his own worries aside for the moment, Harry was a bit confused with Ron's desperation on the matter.

"Ron, can you really think of nobody we know that might be interested in going with you? Perhaps somebody from our house whose known both of us since first year?"

Ron looked at him with hope "Why? Did somebody talk to you?"

Harry just shook his head, the boy could be thick "I meant Hermione you dolt."

Ron looked confused, so Harry continued. "Come on mate, you two have been dancing around each other for years, you can't tell me it never crossed your mind."

A series of emotions flitted across the red head's freckled face, considering his friend's words.

"I guess I just never really thought of Hermione as a girl" he began, getting a weird look from Harry "I mean I know she's a girl, but when we met I wasn't thinking about girls in that way, so I've never really considered it since."

"Well now might be a good time to consider it, before somebody else in this castle considers it faster than you." Harry laughed and Ron blanched. He replied a bit nervously

"Are you even sure she'd say yes, I mean she's brilliant, top of our year and I'm just, just..." doubt coloured his words with a dark brush.

"Just the person she bickers and fights with constantly, yet still inexplicably spends a great deal of her time with" Harry finished for him "Seriously mate, she'd say yes in a heartbeat"

Ron looked relieved, then quickly nervous once again.

"I need to find Hermione!" he almost yelled, leaving through the portrait hole at a brisk top speed sprint, getting annoyed shouts from the Fat Lady.

In silence once again, Harry was forced to consider his own options. He could probably get a yes out of just about any girl in the school, but he didn't want his date to be a star struck, blabbering fan who only saw his scar, if he wanted that he could ask Colin Creevey.

No, he had a particular girl in mind, one Cho Chang of Ravenclaw. The brown-eyed, black haired fellow seeker had been plaguing his thoughts and fantasies on and off since last year, and now would be a great opportunity to make at least one of those dreams reality. A great, but ever so terrifying opportunity he mentally groaned.

But he steeled himself. No, if Ron could get up his Gryffindor courage, so could Harry, no way was he putting this off until the last week. With that he was up and out the portrait whole almost as fast as his friend.


	2. Chapter 2

Ron entered the library, heart pounding and ears trying to camouflage with his hair, almost knocking over a Bulgarian seeker in his haste, not that he noticed. It didn't take him very long to find her, he just had to look for the table that had a fort of books with bushy hair sticking out the top.

Hearing his approach Hermione looked up.

"Oh hey Ron" she said cheerily "I'm just reading up a bit on the history of the Yule Ball, it's actually quite interesting"

"it seems just like any other formal dance I've heard about" he observed.

"Really" she said, a smirk appearing on her face "So you've heard of a formal dance where the guests arrive naked and carry out the traditional wizarding rituals of Yule."

Ron's face turned pink. "What?" He cried, voice cracking in surprise.

Hermione just burst out laughing.

"No need to worry, they haven't done that particular ceremony in centuries."

"Well that's good, I'm nervous enough as it is, but thank you for that mental image of our potions Master." 

Hermione just laughed more at that.

"So did you need something?" she asked, calming down a bit at a death glare from Madam Pince. "Do you need help with the Herbology essay, even I had trouble finding references on that one, burrowing plants aren't very common, so it took a while to find a good description."

Ron let her finish her question, giving himself the few extra seconds to get up his nerve and do what he came here for. "No, it's something else, it's actually about the ball" he started, face already five degrees hotter than two seconds before."

"Oh? What is it?" she asked motioning for him to sit across from her and moving some books so he could see her better.

His core temperature seemed to rise again in the few small steps to the seat, and it only got worse when he was faced with her brown eyes. An expectant look covered her suddenly painfully cute face, framed by bushy hair and books. He needed to speak soon or his saliva would come out as steam, so he got out "Do you want to go to the ball with me?" about as fast s he'd sprinted there. "As my date." he added before he could lose his nerve.

Hermione was startled, but once she'd fully processed the question and it's implications, she was matching his complexion and temperature. "Um, ah, well" she began a bit flustered, but hurried along at the look of despair forming in Ron's eyes. "Yes, yes, of course" she finished, both nervous and excited.

Ron was smiling ear to ear now, and to break the tension that had built up in the air he joked

"Don't worry, we'll have our clothes on, remember."

She broke at that and he followed in kind, both laughing their way out of the library, shooed by an irate Madame Pince.

OOOOOOOOOO

Harry found himself at the entrance to Ravenclaw tower, in an argument with an enchanted eagle.

"I'm sorry, I don't know the answer, I don't even need in, I just need to talk to somebody."

"Fine." the knocker said,annoyed, before letting out a screech.

A fifth year prefect answered and Harry had to ignore the amused grin on the older boy's face when he asked for Cho.

Harry only realized when faced with dark brown eyes and hearing her Scottish brogue say his name that he had nothing at all prepared, not a single word, so he improvised.

"Are you busy" he began. trying to sound as innocent as possible

She looked a bit confused "No, but it's 20 minutes to curfew, what brings you to Ravenclaw tower at this hour?"

"Just a walk" said Harry still debating how to go about this.

"Well if you're not quick it'll be a walk to detention with Filch." she warned a bit amused at his apparent nonchalance "So what can I do for you?"

She was right, he had no time to dawdle, but thankfully that was an open goal of a question, given his intentions.

"Would you like to go to the ball with me?" he asked taking a great interest in the floor, keeping an eye on his feet, making sure they didn't decide to betray him and bolt.

"I'd love to." she said after what had to be at least half an hour, according to his currently very frazzled internal clock. It was only about ten seconds.

She continued "But I still think it's best you get going" she said, pointing at a familiar cat patrolling behind him.

Harry finally let his legs bolt and could hear her amused chuckles behind him, as he headed for the Gryffindor common room, bouncing with excitement and trying to avoid being caught.


	3. Chapter 3

The weeks leading up to the ball were both enjoyable and bizarre. Harry was very happy and relieved. Not only did he no longer have to be a part of the rat-race of students scrambling to ask their special someone or barring that, anybody at all, he was spending actual time with Cho that wasn't on a Quidditch pitch. He'd known she was pretty and that she was an excellent talent as a seeker, but there was so much more that he got to learn about the charming Ravenclaw. For one she was quite popular with her housemates and much more comfortable in a crowd than Harry, so he thanked God he asked her where and when he did, because she was hardly ever without a pack of girls surrounding her like a team of bodyguards. She also had quite a clever and sometimes hilariously inappropriate sense of humour, which was giving Harry a more clear idea of why the Scots were known for their "unique" vocabulary. Her dueling skills were comparable to her agility on a broom, so she generally outmatched the petty Slytherin ne'er do wells that attacked unsuspecting first years. But most importantly, she cared very deeply, not abiding any bullies, even calling out Snape at the expense of detention, and always being a shoulder to cry on when her friends were dealing with something.

The bizarre aspect of the past couple weeks, for Harry at least, was the newfound closeness between his two best friends. It wasn't a problem to Harry, just a new experience that he hadn't yet adapted to. He was used to seeing them bicker all the time, and while they still did so frequently, it lacked the charge of their unspoken emotions and had gained a certain level of playfulness that he had rarely seen before. The kissing was perhaps the most difficult, not because Harry cared, but he didn't fancy watching two people lock lips while he sat there and twiddled his thumbs. The upside was it meant he was branching out more, not just in the time he spent with Cho, but he found himself spending more time with Seamus, Dean and Neville, doing homework, playing wizards chess and exploding snap, or just sharing stories. Seamus was a veritable nut when it came to muggle pop culture, which was nice, because Harry rarely got to watch T.V. growing up. He found Doctor Who particularly interesting and planned to run the idea of the TARDIS by Fred and George.

Soon enough, the event that'd had students either excited or filled with dread, was mere hours away. This evening found Harry trying to contain his laughter as Ron fretted over the many frills and ruffles that made up his ancient dress robes. 

"Stop worrying mate, she's seen you eat and she still kisses you, this shouldn't be an issue. At least they match your hair." he Harry finished with a snicker.

Ron just gave him a half annoyed, half defeated look and shrugged.

"You're right, I could probably go in green and silver dress robes embroidered with the Slytherin crest and we'd still have a blast, plus it'd be hilarious to see Malfoy's face."

"That's the spirit, now let's get going, apparently the girls actually managed to tame Hermione's hair, which I've just got to see."

Ron laughed as they headed down the stairs "Like you're one to talk, if it weren't for that enchanted comb you're hair would still be pointing in seven different directions."

"Touché" Harry chuckled, before his gaze went to the top of the girl's stairwell, Ron's following soon after, as they both stood slightly dumbfounded.

Ron managed to find his voice long enough for a very articulate "Wow," getting a blush out of Hermione before they all headed down to the great hall.

As expected Hermione didn't care about Ron's old fashioned robes, and simply described them as "very retro" which left Ron confused. "I'll tell you later" she laughed.

Waiting around with the other Champions, nervous that he'd have to dance in front of three different schools, Harry was transfixed when he saw his date arrive in elegant cream-silver robes adorned in flowers, her hair up in a bun with two thin loops framing her dimpled cheeks and spellbinding brown eyes.

Harry really couldn't believe his luck, but took her arm, blushing furiously and frantically trying to recall their dance lessons, as they followed the other champions into the now open doors of the great hall.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed that. Please review, I always like to know what people think. I'll try to get the rest of the ball written by the end of the day.


	4. Chapter 4

Perhaps the only reason Harry didn't step on her toes, is because both of them could rely on their Quidditch reflexes, so their movements ended up more as a series of quick dodges than a waltz. Fortunately the students were paying more attention to the Champion's heads than their feet, so the rather unorthodox dance went mostly unnoticed. Dinner was an interesting affair, because for the first time he got to view the Hall from the perspective of the teachers table, along with the other champions and their dates. Also, unlike other meals, they ordered specific dishes instead of the usual buffet style, which Harry thought would be much more convenient, not to mention less wasteful if it were an option at every other meal, but he supposed wizards had stasis charms for that. After their meal and a bit of a wait, the music started again, signalling the dance floor to be open, the punch bowls spread out across the hall filling almost in tune to the melody now playing.

"I still can't believe that you don't like chocolate" Harry said teasingly, a look of exaggerated confusion on his face.

"It's okay it's just nothing to get excited about, now butterscotch is where it's at." She playfully argued in return.

"Oi Ron, can you explain to Cho here why chocolate is anything but unexciting...Ron?"

The red head was already on the dance floor, testing out spins that neither he nor Hermione had enough experience to succeed in executing. This should be interesting.

"Ron watch out for the...Nice save!" Harry bellowed, watching as Ron careened towards a table heavily laden with punch and crystal goblets, only to be caught at the last second by none other than Viktor Krum. Harry didn't know what was funnier, the amazing odds of the situation, or the fact that Ron nearly tripped over himself again when he realized who it was that had grabbed him.

"Ok then, he'll fill you in later once he's stopped hyperventilating and maybe we'll also wait for the end of the drooling that's sure to come after." They both laughed.

"Quick" Cho pulled Harry on to the dance floor as the couple was heading back in their direction. "I've heard enough of my friends gushing about there dates, I don't need a star struck Ron Weasley blabbering on about Quidditch, we'd be there all night. Controlling their laughter, before they ended up running into a person or table as well, they were on the dance floor. The music of the evening pulled common favourites, both current and historical from Scotland, France and Bulgaria. Personally Harry had a particular liking for all the pieces that featured the bagpipes, and Cho seemed to share in this enjoyment, if her energy dancing to those songs was anything to go by. Eventually the repertoire of loud, up beat music moved into the slow songs that, much like the ball itself, people either dreaded or were extremely excited about. If possible Harry was a mix of both. In the weeks before the ball they'd spent time together yes, but nothing so romantic had occurred while they were still getting know each other, that and Harry was still terribly nervous about that sort of thing.

"Oh get some blood back in your face." Cho giggled teasingly, which just made Harry go from pale to scarlet, especially when she guided one of his hands to her shoulder and the other to her waist, draping her own on his shoulders. "I said some, not all of it." She laughed again at the expression on his face. She was thankfully good at lightening the mood when he was nervous.

After some initial hesitation they enjoyed quite a few dances, most with each other and a few with their friends. Cho spent a song with Cedric Diggory and one with a shy looking Ravenclaw boy who they'd studied with once or twice when Harry and Cho were spending some time together. Harry had one dance with Hermione, even managing a spin with a smug grin at Ron, who just shook his head. He also accepted a dance with Ginny, a wonderful girl, and a nice dancer, but Harry could tell she had at least some lingering feelings remaining from the starstruck girl he'd met two years ago, just by looking at the incessant sparkling of her eyes and hearing the slightly dreamy tone of her voice, even while she tried to speak casually.

All in all, the night was a great distraction from the fact he was entered into a tournament by someone who likely had the intention of getting him killed. Harry and Cho walked hand in hand towards the Ravenclaw common room, splitting ways with Ron and Hermione back at the Great Hall.

"Why can't we do that every year." Harry giddily danced about, still on a high from all the music, especially the wizarding rock band.

"We should campaign Dumbledore about that." Cho said, amused as Harry spun dramatically around the corridor.

His expression only seemed to sober when he realized they were at her common room and would soon need to part ways. Harry had been aching to kiss this girl since before he'd even asked her, and he'd already used up the rest of the night lost in all the other festivities. He needn't have worried, given his thoughts and continued nerves were written across the boy's already red cheeks. After providing the answer to the door's riddle, Cho simply grabbed Harry by both shoulders and crashed her lips into his in what ended up being a brief, but very enjoyable moment of bliss once he realized what was going on and kissed her back. She pulled away, smiling at Harry mischievously, amused with the cute tomato face he had by this point.

"Now don't go passing out on me Potter." She giggled before dashing away into her common room, still laughing.

Harry returned to his common room in another fog, not an anxious one this time, more of a pleasant, mist of joy and excited elation.

A/N: That should be it. I'm more of a short and sweet type of writer. If anybody wants to expand on this idea, I'm always willing to adopt out my short fics.


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